Looking for a chance to pick up
extra credit? When I picked Kevin Kallaugher's and Matt Bors'
pieces for today, I didn't realize that Comic Strip of the Daywas
already there.

This mysterious weed is the secret
of the Earthman's strength! "Popeye,
The Ace of Space," directed in 1953 by Seymour Kneitel, cashes
in on several movie trends of the moment: Flying saucers, green
aliens, and – wait for it – 3-D effects, one of two Paramount
shorts filmed with the process during that decade. Even in the 2-D
embed below, you'll notice an unusual number of things (disintegrator
beams, pipe smoke, cans of spinach – one of four in the story)
flying along the Z-axis toward you. Uncredited voice work by Jack
Mercer (Popeye, although he also gets half story credit), plus
Jackson Beck and Sid Raymond (as the Martians, although Beck was
normally doing Bluto's voice in those days). Savor the prescient
historical irony of Popeye watching from the sidelines as the
Martians fight among themselves, announcing his resolve to make them
"peace-kable," and then diving in and beating the crap out
of all of them. And then stealing their ride. On the other hand, the
1950s-era Popeye did frequently sing scat, which I always considered
a point in his favor.

Nothstine is a writer, editor, political junkie, and renegade professor. Contact him here.

*Why p3?

"A good cause is often injured more by ill-timed efforts of its friends than by the arguments of its enemies. Persuasion, perseverance, and patience are the best advocates on questions depending on the will of others." -Thomas Jefferson (1826)